Gas generating apparatus



Dec. 18, 1934. J. E. TONE 1,984,665

GAS GENERATING. APPARATUS Filed June 14, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet l inventor[51; 2'. Zine 116w lg; 662W M w I ffrrzzgys 13, 9 J. E. TONE 1,984,665

GAS GENERATING APPARATUS Filed June 14, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 JnvenIorDec. 18, 1934. J. E. TONE 1,984,665

GAS GENERATING APPARATUS F i led June 14, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 PatentedDec. 18, 1934 i Y x UNITED STATES Parent orFicE 7 1,984,665 GASGENERATING APPARATUS Jay E. Tone, Des Moines, Iowa Application June 14,1929; Serial No. 370,759

' 8 Claims. (01. 23-277) The objectof my invention is to provide anFigure 7 is an end elevation of a portion of the economical andefficient process for producing operating mechanism of the apparatus.

an inert gas and an apparatus for accomplish- Figure 8 is a sectionalview on the line 8 8 of ing the process, the apparatus being of simple,Figure 1, illustrating the reverse side of the durable and comparativelyinexpensive conmechanism shown in Figure 7. 5

struction. Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view of my appa- More particularlyit is my object to provide a ratus for producing inert gas; and processin which charcoal is initially burned and Figure 10 is a horizontalsectional view of the and the gas and smoke removed therefrom aftershield between the upper and lower combustion 10 which the partiallyburned charcoal is secondachambers. 1O rily burned and air is forcedthrough the burn- In the packing of coffee in metal cans, the ingcharcoal whereby an inert gas results. vacuum pack system has beenextensively used.

Still a further object is to providean appara- The vacuum pack systemconsists in filling the tus for producing gas by this process,consisting can with ground coffee and then removing the of primary andsecondary combustion chambers air therefrom by vacuum. It is well knownthat 15 and means for transferring the burning charcoal a perfect vacuumcannot be attained and therefrom the primary chamber to the secondaryfore, a small quantity of air remains in the cofchamber and for drawingair through the burnfee can. This air has a deteriorating effect on ingcharcoal in the secondary chamber whereby the quality and taste of thecofiee, the amount the air becomes an inert gas. I of deteriorationincreasing with age.

With these and other objects in View my in- I have attempted toeliminate such a continvention consists in the construction,arrangegency by substituting for the air removed from ment andcombination of the various parts of the can, an inert gas and a smallamount of remy device,whereby the objects contemplated are ducing gassuch as carbonmonoxide. I have attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth, found that the introduction of an inert gas into '25 pointed outin my claims and'illustrated in the the coffee will neither harmnor'deteriorate the accompanying drawings. Although the invenflavor andquality of the coffee even though left tion is susceptible of a varietyof embodiments, in the can indefinitely. I it is unnecessary to fullydescribe and illustrate One way of producing an inert gas is to burn 3-0more than one in order to give a full undercharcoal and draw air throughthe burning charstanding of the invention both from its struccoalwhereby an inert gas results. However, tural and functional standpoints.Accordingly, a gas produced in this manner also draws the I haveillustrated a preferred and desirable emsmoke from the charcoal andother gases of bodiment of the invention in the accompanying combustionand even though the smoke is very drawings, in which:' small inquantity, it has a tendency to affect 35 Figure 1 is a side elevation ofa portion of th the flavor of the coffee.

apparatus used in producing gas by my improved I have, therefore,endeavored to provide a process; process wherein the smoke and gases arefirst Figure 2 is a v rti l t View through removed from the charcoal asit is'being burned 4.0 the same 0nthe1ine'2 2 of Figure v and thereafterthe burning charcoal is intro- 40 duced into a combustion chamberthrough which air is drawn and this air I find becomes an inert gaslacking the odorous and foreign taste imparting elements common to gasproduced from charcoal which is only burned and the air passed directlythrough it while burning. grams formmg the bottom of the P I will nowdescribe the apparatus for producing buSt.1On m an inert gas by myimproved process.

Figure 5 1s a horizontal sectional view on the Referring to thedrawings, 10 indicates a 0 line Of Figure 2, illustrating he gratesecondary combustion chamber is ub forming the bottom of the Secondarycombustion stantially cylindrical in cross section. Legs 12 m aresecured to the chamber 10 for supporting Figure 6 is fat hOI'iZOl'lttlsectional view 0n. the the same relative to a, floor 14 Suppgrting line-6 of Figure 1, illustrating the gas t -O f members 16 are secured tothe top of the comportloll 0f h appara u 'bustion chamber 10 and supporton their up- 55 Figure 3 is an enlarged view partially in section,showing the gearing mechanism for thee}:- eration of parts of thegasproducing apparatus.

Figure l is a horizontal sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figure 1,illustrating the upper per ends, a combustion chamber 18. I will referto the combustion chamber 10 as a secondary combustion chamber and tothe combustion chamber 18 as a primary combustion chamher.

A charcoal container 20 is supported on the upper end of the primarycombustion chamber 18 and has positioned therein, a feed hopper 22. Aremovable lid 24 is provided for the hopper 22. The hopper .22 may befilled with charcoal as indicated at '26 which settles by gravitythrough a thimble 28 and spreads as indicated at 30 over the bottom ofthe primary combustion chamber 18.

The combustion chamber 18 is in the shape of an inverted cone and itsbottom is formed by a plurality of rotatable grates 32, 34 and 36. Thegrates 32, 34 and 36 have their ends j0urnaled in bearing members 38 and40. -The members 38 and 40 are secured as indicated at '42 to thesupporting members 16. The shaft 44 of the grate 32 extends beyond thebearing member 38 and through a bracket 48. Between the bracket 46 andthe bearing member 38, a ratchet wheel 48 is provided.

An actuating arm 50 is secured to a sleeve 52 which surrounds the shaft44 and extends through a bearing 54 formed on the bracket '48. Securedto the sleeve 52 betweenthe bracket 48 and the ratchet wheel 48, is ahub 56from which extends a pawl arm 58. A pawl 60 is mounted on the freeend of the arm 58 andjis adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchetwheel 48. p

.11 gauge plate 62 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 44 adjacent theratchet wheel 48. 7 A pawl engaging flange 64 is formed on the gaugeplate 62, the purpose of which will hereinafter be referred to; Thegauge plate 62 may be adjusted by rotation and for holding it at any ofits adjusted positions, threaded studs 66 are pro vided thereonextending through slots 68 in-the bracket 46. Clamp wing nuts 70 areprovided on the studs 66. V

A substantially cone-shaped deflector '72 is mounted between the primarycombustion chamber 18 and the secondary combustion chamber 10. Thedeflector 72 is supported in position relative to the supporting members16 by means of rivets or the like 74.

The top of the combustion chamber 10 is formed by a plate 76 securedthereto and on which an annular manifold '78 is formed.

Within the manifold78, an annular passage way 80 is provided whichcommunicates by means of openings 82 with the interior of the combustionchamber 10. The top of the manifold '78 is substantially cone-shaped andits top surface is in alignment with a cone-shaped surface 84 formed ona removable thimble 86. The combustion chamber 10 is formed withanextension 88 terminating in a head 90. An inspection glass 92 is mountedin the head for the purpose of viewing the interior of the combustionchamber 10.

The bottom of the combustion chamber 10 is formed by a rotatable gratesupporting member 94 and'a head 96. Removable grate members 98 aresupported by the member 94 and the head 96. The grate members 98 aresubstantially triangular-shaped and the head 96 being higher than thegrate supporting edge of the member .94, the grate members form asubstantially cone-shaped rotatable grate.

The periphery of the member 94 is corrugated as indicated at 100 and thelower inner periphery of the combustion chamber 10, is corrugated asindicated at 102. The grate supporting member 94 and the head 96 aresecured to a shaft 104. The shaft 104 is rotatably mounted in a casing106 provided with supporting arms 108. The arms 108 as indicated at 110are secured to the supporting legs 12 of the device.

An adjustable thrust screw 112 is mounted in he bottom of the casing 106for the purpose of supporting the shaft 104 and the parts securedthereto. Within the casing 106 a bevel gear 114 is secured to theshaft104. A bevel pinion 116 best shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, is

mounted on a shaft 118 journaled in one side of the casing 106 and inmesh with the bevel gear 114. The shaft 118 extends through a bracket46a supported on extensions 120 which are in turn secured to thesupporting legs 12 of the device.

The parts supported with relation to the bracket 46a and the shaft 118are identical to the, parts bearing the reference numerals 48 to 70 asalready described in connection with the grates 32, 34 and 36. I willtherefore refer to similar parts for operating the shaft 118 withsimilar reference numerals with the addition of the distinguishingcharacter a.

A boss 122 is formed on the manifold 78 into which a pipe line 124 isscrewed. The pipe line 124 extends to an intake pipe 126 formed on aseparator 128. It will be noted by referring to Figure 6, that theintake pipe 126 of the separator 128 is arranged tangentially relativeto the separator.

The separator 128 is substantially cylindrical in cross section and hasa downwardly extending cone-shaped portion 130 terminating in a reducedcylindrical portion 132. A removable cover plate 1 34 held in positionby bolts 136 and wing nuts 138, is mounted on the lower end of thecylindrical portion 132. Leg members 140 and braces .142 are providedfor supporting the separator 128 relative to the floor 14. Within theseparator128 an annular baflle wall 144 is provided extending downwardlyfrom the top of the separator and spaced from the outer wall thereof.Connected with the top of the separator128 and communicating with theportion of the separator inside of the baflie wall 144, is anoutlet-pipe 146.

Referring to the diagrammatic view shown in Figure 9, the outlet pipe146 communicates with a shut-01f control valve 148. The control valve148 is connected with a condenser 150 which is merely a plurality oftubes cooled by atmosphere and may, in practical construction, be asteam or hot water radiator.

A pipe line 152 leads from the condenser 150 to the air chamber 154 of acompressor 156.

The valve box of the compressor 156 is indicated at 158 and from thevalve box, a pipe 1 ine160 extends. The pipe line 160 may discharge intoa storage tank wherein the gas may be stored for immediate or futurc'useas desired. Suitable automatic controlling devices may be utilized forregulating the pressure of the gas introduced into the storage tank.

Practical operation In the practical operation of my device, the lid 24is removed and the hopper 22 filled with charcoal as indicated in dottedlines at 26 in Figure 2 of the drawings. The charcoal feeds down wardlyby gravity assuming approximately the position with respect to theprimary combustion chamber 18 indicated at 30 and resting on the grates'32, 34 and 36. The charcoal resting on the grates is ignitedby means ofa blow torch or a gas torch which might be operated by the city gas andpermanently attached to the machine.

.After being ignited, the charcoal burns on the grates 32, 34 and 36 andwhatever little smoke there is arising from the burning charcoal andsome of the gas therefrom, pass upwardly in the container 20 and aredischarged to atmosphere through a chimney 1621 The burning of thecharcoal on the grates may be controlled by means of a damper 164mounted in the chimney 162. Preferably the chimney 162 extends to theintake side of an exhaust fan or blower 212, and from the top sidethereof to a chimney or smoke stack. The blower 212 is operated by anelectric motor 214 or may be driven from the compressor 12'? if desired.A sliding check door may be provided in the chimney 162 so that cool aircan be admitted to the gas being drawn by the blower from the casing 20if desired.

My generating machine may or may not in clude a shield 216 (see Figure2) extending from the hopper 18 to the flange 76 of the manifold 80. Theshield 216 may be provided for the purpose of preventing the escape ofgas into the atmosphere of the room in which the apparatus is located. Iprefer to use the shield, and where it is used, it is open on one sideto admit air as shown in Figure 10. The interior of the shield 216 ispreferably connected by means of a pipe 220 with the chimney 162. Adamper 218 and slide check door 222 are provided for controlling thedraft of air through the pipe 220. It will be noted that the pipe 220being connected with the chimney 162 (see the diagrammatic view Figure9) whereby the blower 212 serves for exhausting the gas from both theinterior of the hopper casing 20 and the shield 216.

The grate 32 is slowly rotated by oscillating the arm 50. Foroscillating the arm 50, I provide an actuating device A including acasing 166 having a shaft 168 journaled therein.

A crank arm 170 is secured to the shaft 168 and through the medium of alink 172, oscillates the arm 50. Oscillation of the arm 50 causes thearm 58 to oscillate and thereby rotate the ratchet wheel 48intermittently through the medium of the pawl 60. During eachoscillation of the arm 58, the pawl 60 may rotate the ratchet wheel 48any desired number of teeth therein by adjusting the gauge plate 62.

Referring to Figure 8 for instance, adjustment of the plate 62 in thedirection of the arrow 1'74 will cause the pawl 60 to disengage theteeth of the ratchet wheel 48 due to the undersurface thereof engagingthe flange 60 sooner upon oscillation of the arm 58 in the direction ofthe arrow 1'76 and therefore, the next tooth engaged by the pawl 60 willnot be moved as far in the direction opposite to the arrow 176 as whenthe plate 62 is adjusted in the direction opposite to the arrow 1'74.

For rotating the shaft 168 and thereby rotating the grate 32, a pulley178 is provided which may be belted by means of a belt 125 and pulley127 to the shaft of the compressor 156 or run by an independent motor. Apin 180 is provided on the shaft 44 of the grate 32 and pinions 182 areprovided on the grates 34 which mesh with the pinion 160. A pinion 184on the shaft of the grate 36, meshes with one of the pinions 182.

From the construction of the parts just described, it will be obviousthat rotation from the grate 32 is imparted to the grates 34 and 36.Disc like end portions 186 are provided on the grates 32,34 and 36 forforming substantial end members slightly spaced from the irregularshaped lower edges 188 of the primary combustion chamber 18.

As the grates 32, 34 and 36 are slowly rotated, the partially burnedcharcoal falls into the deflector 72 and then through the thimble '86and into the combustion chamber 10 where they pile up' on the gratemembers 98 as indicated in dotted lines at 190 in Figure 2. Thepartially burned charcoalalso fills the thimble 86 and assumes theposition indicated at 192 whereby the thimble 86 and the space betweenthe corrugated surfaces 100 and 102, is substantially filled. As thepartially burned charcoal is burned in the secondary combustion chamber10, the grate members 98 are slowly rotated through the medium of thebevel gear 114, the bevel pinion 116, the shaft 118, the ratchet wheel48a, the pawl 60a, the pawl arm 58a, the sleeve 52a, and the arm 50a.

The arm 50a. is operatively connected by a link 194 to a crank arm 196mounted on a shaft 198. The shaft 198 is journaled in the housing 166 ofthe gearing mechanism A and is operatively connected with the rotatingshaft 168 by means of a worm gear 200 and a worm 202. The mechanism A ismounted on a bracket204 which may be se-curedto the wallior to thecontainer 20 if found desirable.

As a vacuum is produced in the condenser 150, atmospheric pressure willforce, air through the spaces between the corrugated portions 100 and102 in the bottom of the secondary combustion chamber 10, and throughthe thimble 86 thereof. Such air in passing through the burning charcoalforms an inert gas free from oxygen and smoke produced when burning thecharcoal in the primary combustion chamber.

This inert gas is forced by the atmospheric pressure through theopenings 82 in the cover plate 76 of the combustion chamber 10 and intothe manifold 78. It will .be noted by referring to Figure 6, that theopenings 82 vary in size whereby the pressure is equalized throughoutthe manifold '78 and there is a substantially even distribution of inertgas passing through the openings 82 into the annular passageway 80. Fromthe passageway 80, the inert gas is dis charged tangentially into theseparator 128 whereby it is given a whirling motion before passingbeneath the annular bafile wall 144 and into the discharge pipe 146 fromwhence the gas travels through the condenser and cooler 150 to thecompressor 156.

The separator 128 receiving the gas in a whirling motion, causes anyparticles of charcoal ash which might have been collected thereby, tosettle toward the outer surface of the separator due to centrifugalforce. Then by gravity such particles drop into the cylindrical portion132 from which they may be removed at intervals by removing the coverplate 134.

The condenser 150 is provided so that the gas will not leave thecompressor 156 in a hot and expanded condition which would throwunnecessary work onto the compressor for having to compress an expandedgas. Therefore, by providing a condenser and cooler-150, a compressor156 of small capacity can be used for extracting the inert gas from thegas producing apparatus.

When cleaning out the-combustion chambers 10 and 18, the grates32, 34and 36 and. the grate members 98 may be manually rotated by a crank206-. The crank 206 is provided with slots 208 adapted to engage pins210 extending through the shafts ,44and 118.

By operatively connecting the gear boxA with the compressor 156, thespeed of rotation of l. grates of the combustion chambers andconsequently the burning gate of the charcoal can be regulated withrespect to the capacity of the compressor. Automatic control means forthe damper 164 might also be provided whereby the burning rate of thecharcoal could be controlled depending on the consumption of the inertgas or other factors.

Some changes may be made in both the specific mamier of performing myprocess and in the construction and arrangement of the parts of myapparatus without departing from the real spirit and purpose of myinvention and it is my intention to cover by my claims, such modifiedmethods of performing the processand in the apparatus, such modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, as may bereasonably included within the scope of the claims.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. A gas generating apparatus comprising a casing, a grate extendingacross the casing and forming thereabove a combustion chamber in whichfuel may be partially burned, a second grate extending across the casingfor receivingthe partially burnt fuel, meansextending across said casingbetween the grates for forming above said second grate a substantiallyclosed combustion chamber, means whereby air may be directed throughtheburning fuel on the second grate for converting the air into an inertgas collecting insaid chamber above the burning fuel, and means wherebythe inert gas may be drawn from said chamber.

2. A gas generating apparatus comprising a casing, a grate extendingacross the casing and forming thereabove a combustion chamber in whichfuel may be partially burned, a second grate extending across the casingfor receiving the partially burnt fuel, a fuel receiving means extendingacross the casing betweenthe grates for receiving the partially burntfuel and directing the same on to the second grate, said fuelreceiving'means being disposed so as to form a substantially closedchamber beneath the same, means whereby air may be directed through theburning fuel on the secondgrate for converting the airinto an inert gascollecting in said chamber above the burning fuel, and means whereby theinert gas may be drawn from said chamber. 7 v

3. A gas generating. apparatus comprising a casing, a grate extendingacross the casing and forming thereabove a combustion chamber in whichfuel may be partially burned, a second grate extending across the casingfor receiving the partially burnt fuel, means extending across saidcasing between the grates for forming above said second grate asubstantially closed combustion chamber, means whereby air maybedirected through the burning fuel on the second grate for converting theair into an inert gas, and a manifold connected with said closed chamberfor collecting the inert gas.

4. A gas generating apparatus comprising a casing, a grate extendingacross the casing and forming thereabove a combustion chamber in whichfuel may be partially burned, a second grate extending across the casingfor receiving thepartially burnt fuel, means'extending across saidcasing between the grates for formingabove said second grate asubstantially closed combustion chamber, means whereby air may be "di-.rected through the burning fuel on the second grate for converting theair into an inert gas,

a manifold connected with said closed chamber for collecting the inertgas, said manifold having a discharge opening at one side thereof, andopenings from the manifold leading to the combustion' chamber ofprogressive size with the smallest openings adjacent the dischargeopenmgs.

5. A, gas generating apparatus comprising a casing, a grate extendingacross the. casing and forming thereabove a combustion chamber in whichfuel may be partially burned, a second grate extending across the casingfor receiving the partially burnt fuel, an annular manifold attached tothe casing and disposed between said grates, a thimble carriedtherebyand extending below the manifold for receiving and directing thepartially burnt fuel on to the second grate, said thimble being disposedso that the fuel accumulating on the grate together with the thimble andthemanifold will form a substantially closed chamber above said secondgrate, and means whereby air may be directed through the burning fuel onthe second grate for converting the air into an inert gas collecting inthe manifold.

6. A gas generating'apparatus comprising a casing, an upper adjustablegrate structure extending across the casing and forming thereabove acombustion chamber in which fuel may be partially burned, a secondadjustable grate structure extending across the casing for receiving thepartially burnt fuel, means for operating said grates in synchronismwhereby the fuel after it is partially burned on the upper grate isdischarged on' to the lower grate where it is finally consumed, meansextending across said casing between said grates 'for forming above saidsecond. grate a substantially closed combustion chamber, means wherebyair may be directed through the burning fuel on the second grate forconverting the air into an inert gas, collecting in said chamber abovethe burning fuel, and means whereby the inert gas may be drawn from saidchamber.

'7. In a gas generating apparatus, a casing, an upper combustionchamberin said casing, means for drawing off gaseous products of thefirst stage of combustion, a lower combustion chamber in said casingarranged to receive the partially burned fuel discharged from thebottom,

of the upper combustion chamber, means extending across the casingbetween the combustion chambers and having a passageway through whichthe partially burned fuel passes into the lower combustion chamber,means independent of said first means for drawing gases from the upperpart of said lower combustion chamber and means for controlling thedischarge of fuel and ashes from said last named chamber at such rate asto maintain a supply of partially burned fuel in the passagewayextending entirely across the same.

8. In a gas generating apparatus, a combustion chamber, means fordrawing off gaseous products of the first stage of combustion therefrom,a second combustion chamber arranged to receive partially burned fueldischarged from the bottom of the first chamber, means forming apassageway into the second chamber for partially burned fuel from thefirst chamber, a cone-shaped grate in said second combustion chamberopen to the passage of air and having its apex adjacent the outlet endof said passageway, suction means for creating draft through the fuel insaid passageway and through the fuel on said grate and for drawing gasesfrom the upper part of the second chamber and means for controlling thedischarge of fuel and ashes from the chambers at such rates as tomaintain a supply of fuel in said passageway entirely across it.

JAY E. TONE.

